Asia's power industry can adopt nascent granular renewable energy certificates (RECs) with infrastructure upgrades, although the extent of time-matching would depend on each country's generation mix, participants said at the Argus Asia Carbon conference.
Cross-border transfers could help expand options and there are early trials to learn from, but the industry will also need to tackle regulatory uncertainties, they added. Granular RECs — able to track renewables generation on an hourly basis or in even finer detail — would involve higher costs, given the need for more sophisticated data tracking.
"For project developers and grid operators lacking the infrastructure for granular tracking, the upfront costs are significant. These include replacing or upgrading inverters, cloud-based monitoring platforms, and legacy grids to enable hourly tracking," said Nesa Albeper, head of sustainability and corporate strategy at Malaysian clean energy firm Cenergi. Customers will also need to pay a premium, she added.
Momentum for granular RECs has been growing globally. The European Union's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism requires importers to submit hourly-matched power contracts if they are to be used as proof for lower embedded emissions. Industry standard-setter Greenhouse Gas Protocol has also been consulting on requiring granular matching of RECs with power consumption.
"Malaysia, Singapore, China, and to some extent Taiwan, are well-positioned to transition toward time-matched, granular certificates," Albeper said.
Granular RECs have been trialled in China, Taiwan and Singapore. Malaysia's power regulator already tracks generation and consumption in 30-minute intervals, though energy certificates are still generally tracked by vintage years.
While some industry participants have communicated 100pc hourly matching aspirations, actual feasible levels could differ by geography.
It would to be challenging to conduct time-based RECs matching in Singapore because the only renewable energy source is solar power, said managing director of Singapore-based Asia Green Capital Edgare Kerkwijk. "Between 12-2pm the RECs price could be lower, but in periods when there is less solar energy generation, such as 8-10am or 3-5pm, supply will drop and RECs prices will go up," Kerkwijk said. There is some battery storage but regulators are hesitant to install more in the system, he added.
It is easier to match at a higher percentage in countries with biogas, hydro, wind, solar and more batteries, Kerkwijk said.
Singapore's ambition to import renewable energy from southeast Asian countries could expand the types of technology available. Some of these projects include wind energy form Vietnam, hydropower from Malaysia and solar from Indonesia.
In addition to that, Singapore's work on a cross-border RECs framework also mentions the possibility of hourly tracking.
A 50MW renewable energy trade from Malaysia to Singapore, via Malaysia's Enegem programme, was conducted on the I-Track registry and involves power dispatch on a half-hourly basis, Albeper noted.
"This transaction offers many valuable lessons for future implementations," she said.
Still, there are open questions on the ownership of RECs from cross-border transactions in Southeast Asia.
"If we import solar from say Batam, Indonesia, would those certificates come to Singapore? Or would the Indonesian government say, 'these certificates are ours, we will sell you electrons but not renewables?'" said Kerkwijk.
